Max Bill

Max Bill (b. 22nd December 1908 & d. 9th December 1994) was a Swiss architect, painter and designer. His initial ambition was to be a silversmith and in his early years trained at Zurich to become just that. His course of study quickly changed though as he was inspired by ‘Le Cobusier’ to go and study architecture at the Bauhaus school of design in Dessau, Germany. He initially studied painting, metalwork and stage design at the Bauhaus. Even well after his education was over, he continued to be influenced by the work of the Bauhaus. He soon set up a studio in Zurich where he switched his focus to architecture, sculpture and painting, making a living by creating advertisements. Following his success as an independent artist and designer, he was inducted into the Allianz group in 1937 which was a small selection of Swiss modern, abstract artists.

Nothing much changed again until 1944 when he begun to focus more on industrial design, where in the same year, he also founded the ‘Abstrakt Konkret’ journal. Alongside this, he also took up a role teaching the theory of form in Zurich. He began producing little bits n bobs such as chairs and wall sprockets, nothing particularly too artistic, however his approach was a very technical and mathematical way of emphasising the simplicity of the products. It is evident that his style has been fairly consistent throughout, with elements of his current work at this time being present in earlier sculpture work from 1942 where he had a particular interest on geometric forms and lines.

In 1953, along with Inge Scholl and Otl Aicher, he founded the Ulm School of Design, where he remained rector until 1955. Whilst there, he gained position as director of both the product design and architecture departments. He was heavily involved in planning out the curriculum and building designs of the school, where he continued the traditional design of the Bauhaus.

In 1959 and 1964, he was a part of the Kassel Documenta, which was an exhibition of contemporary art that happens every 5 years or so in the city of Kassel, Germany. In 1964, alongside his appearance at the Kassel Documenta, Max Bill also became the head architect of the ‘Bilden and Gestalten’ at the Swiss national exhibition in Lausanne. In the following years between 1967-1974, Bill went on to teach environmental design at the ‘Staatliche Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste’ in Hamburg. During this time, in 1971, he also set up his own gallery ‘Denise Rene und Hans Mayer’ in Dusseldorf.
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In his later years during the 80s, Max Bill created several famous and familiar sculptures which went on to influence and help develop some of the modern art style we all know and love today which is evident through his achievements. One of his most prized accomplishments was receiving the ‘Frank J Malina Leonardo Award’, which was rewarded for his lifetime achievements by the ‘International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology’.